Systems and methods for selecting and prioritizing construction checkpoints

Abstract

The computer-based system described herein accepts information about a building project and uses the information to select from a repository of construction checkpoints a subset of the checkpoints that are deemed to be relevant to improve a building's safety, durability and comfort and to reduce financial risk. The checkpoints may be selected and/or prioritized for viewing by an inspector inspecting the building project based on at least one of: project geographic location, project-specific exposure, type of structure, complexity of building components, product quality, builder's repeated deficiencies, and codes and specifications. The system may further be configured to receive information about a current stage of construction of the building project and to present checkpoints to the inspector that are relevant to the current stage of construction. The system may also be configured to prioritize presentation of selected checkpoints based at least in part on an assessment of financial risk posed by improper installation and/or construction of the selected checkpoints. In various embodiments, checkpoints that do not pass inspection may be tracked until repaired, and a record of the repair may be stored for later verifying that the error was repaired and not ignored.

1 . In a computer system that implements a repository of construction checkpoints, a method of selecting a subset of the construction checkpoints for guiding an inspection associated with constructing a building project, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: 
 (a) receiving information about a building project;    (b) filtering records in a repository of construction checkpoints such that a subset of construction checkpoints relevant for conducting an inspection associated with constructing the building project are selected, based at least in part on the information about the building project; and    (c) presenting at least some of the selected construction checkpoints for use in guiding an inspection of the building project.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (a) comprises receiving information about: type of structure being constructed, construction materials being used, and environmental region in which the building project is being constructed.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein step (a) comprises receiving information from a builder.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (a) comprises receiving information from an inspector of the building project.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about a type of structure being constructed.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about a geographical region in which the building project is being constructed.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about environmental conditions to which the building project will be exposed.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the environmental conditions include at least one of: earthquakes, floods, firestorms, temperature extremes, high humidity, tornadoes, sandstorms, and hurricanes.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about an historical frequency of failure associated with inspections of the checkpoint elements.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein step (b) further comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about a frequency of past failures associated with a builder of the building project.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein step (b) further comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about a frequency of past failures associated with products used in the building project.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein step (b) further comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about a frequency of past failures associated with unique facets of construction associated with the building project.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about costs for repairs associated with the construction checkpoints.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about financial risk associated with poor construction of the construction elements associated with the construction checkpoints.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein step (c) comprises presenting the selected construction checkpoints in an ordered list.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein presenting the selected construction checkpoints in an ordered list comprises ordering the list according to the potential costs for repairs associated with the selected construction checkpoints.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (a) comprises receiving scheduling information about stages of construction associated with the building project, step (b) comprises filtering the records based at least in part on information about stages of construction with which the construction checkpoints are associated, and step (c) comprises presenting construction checkpoints associated with a current stage of construction.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the checkpoints are selected to guide an inspection for reducing construction failure or financial risk associated with building the project.  
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented construction checkpoint selection system, comprising: 
 a user interface for accepting information about a building project;    a repository of construction checkpoints; and    a checkpoint selection application configured to receive the information about the building project and to use the information to select from the repository a subset of the construction checkpoints for use in inspecting the building project.    
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the repository of construction checkpoints comprises records for individual checkpoints, and wherein a record comprises information about proper construction techniques associated with the checkpoint, one or more building types for which the checkpoint is important to inspect, one or more environmental regions in which the checkpoint is important to inspect, and information useful for determining a level of financial risk associated with improper construction techniques associated with the checkpoint.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising a remote communications interface configured to transmit at least a subset of the selected checkpoints to a remote computer device.  
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the remote computer is configured to present at least one checkpoint to a user and to receive from the user input indicative of whether the checkpoint has passed or failed an inspection.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the remote communications interface is further configured to receive information from the remote computer about results of an inspection based on the transmitted checkpoints.  
     
     
         24 . A system for selecting from a computer-stored repository of construction checkpoints a subset of the checkpoints for guiding an inspection to minimize financial risk associated with constructing a building project, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving from a builder information about a building project;    means for filtering records in a repository of construction checkpoints such that a subset of construction checkpoints relevant for reducing financial risk associated with constructing the building project may be selected, based at least in part on the information about the building project; and    means for presenting at least some of the selected construction checkpoints for use in guiding an inspection of the building project.    
     
     
         25 . A computer-implemented method of increasing an effectiveness of building inspections, comprising: 
 receiving data descriptive of a building project for which one or more inspections are to be performed, including information about a geographic region of the building project, a current stage of the building project, and types of construction materials used; and    programmatically selecting, from a repository of construction checkpoints, a subset of construction checkpoints to use to conduct an inspection associated with the building project, such that the subset of checkpoints is selected based at least in part on the information about the geographic region of the building project, the current stage of the building project, and the types of construction materials used.    
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein receiving data descriptive of a building project comprises receiving the data from a builder computer.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein receiving data descriptive of a building project comprises receiving, on a portable computing device, information entered by an inspector about the current stage of the building project.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising outputting the subset of checkpoints to the inspector on the portable computing device.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the subset of checkpoints is selected by a central computer system, and the method further comprises transmitting a list of the subset of checkpoints to a portable inspection computing device that is adapted to be used by an inspector during an inspection process.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the subset of construction checkpoints is selected in part by a central computer system based on project information specified by a builder, and in part by a portable computing device based on information specified on-site by builder, and in part by a portable computing device based on information specified on-site by an inspector.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein programmatically selecting the subset of construction checkpoints comprises executing a scoring algorithm that assigns scores to candidate checkpoints and using the scores to select specific checkpoints.